Social Experiences and Their Processing through Conspiracy Theories
In light of this divide, we argue for an interdisciplinary approach that takes into account the complex mediation between society and the individual. For just as psychological accounts of CTs must consider the social conditions of their emergence, a sociological perspective must reflect the affective states that are crucial with regards to the constitution of conspiracy worldviews. Using a sociologically reflected psychoanalytical approach, we argue that CTs appeal to people, because they help to deal with socially produced emotional states. This ‘cure’ follows a complex temporality that psychoanalysis refers to as ‘afterwardness’: Ruptures and grievances engendered by social crises and transformations give rise to inner conflicts and emotional states that mobilize past biographical conflicts and interlock with them. Thus, feelings of fear and powerlessness are reinforced through past injuries while at the same time transforming the current situation phantasmatically. From this perspective, CTs can be understood as an attempt to make sense of one’s own (psychological) situation and the social conditions in general, while also allowing for articulation, comprehension as well as banishment of the threatening affects embedded in them. Through their scandalizing style of ‘social critique’, CTs enable participation in the political field and thus facilitate subjective resovereignization as part of social groups.
In our talk, we will draw on interviews with conspiracy theorists to show how social experiences, inner-psychological processes of ‘afterwardness’ and CTs are linked, thus allowing for ‘crooked cure’ while curtailing to address the underlying social issues.